CycleDog: (n) 1. An all-weather bicyclist, often regarded as one very sick puppy with a bad attitude. 2. A ankle-biting poodle with a Mohawk. (l)Canis
familiaris cyclus

Monday, August 25, 2008

TAOBIKE planning meeting

(Please note: The date for the proposed BAG meeting is given as 12SEP2008. This is the Friday before the MS150 weekend. I'm trying to find a venue available for Thursday the 11th as it may offer fewer conflicts. Also, as Tim Armer was able to attend, we covered much more than the original agenda. It was a productive meeting....Ed)

TAOBIKE planning meeting

23AUG2008

We had three goals for this meeting:

Set the schedule for BikeEd classes.

Discuss the HUB.

Discuss growing TAOBIKE.

List of attendees:

Tim Armer

Gary Parker

Ren Barger

Mike Schooling

Andy Wheeler

Brian Potter

Richard Hall

Steve (?)

Ed Wagner

INCOG

Tim Armer provided some background on INCOG's role in local planning. He discussed the changes to the EPA dirty air list and mentioned that the changes may bring more than 300 cities into non-compliance where only 80 had been before now. One reason Tulsa was denied BFC status was because it does not have a Comprehensive Bicycle Planning document, a situation we would like to address. As always, pursuing funding is the hard part.

PlaniTulsa

PlaniTulsa is an opportunity for community participation in the city planning. Register on-line to participate in a workshop on September 22 or 23.

The HUB is part of Tulsa's beautification project and will be a central component in BikeEd. Ren has secured a 10,000 sq. ft. facility located near the new stadium. The plan is to offer Road1 classes, bicycle repair classes, a cafe, and much, much more. The Community Cycling Project will be the major agenda item. There is a parking lot adjacent to the facility for Road1 drills. It should be operational by November. There is a possibility that The HUB will be involved in the Tulsa Townie program in the future. (An aside – the Tulsa Townie program sees an average of 200+ bicycles used on an average weekend, and there are 75 bicycles in the fleet.) The HUB has a website and is currently looking for a web designer and content. Note that The HUB will be closed through the months of February and August in order to save energy.

BikeEd

BikeEd – there is some interest in offering a Road1 course through 360 Sports, a local bike shop in Owasso. If this is successful, it may be a blueprint for Road1 in other suburban communities in the region. Tulsa is the biggest market, of course, but a program like this highlights our interest in all area communities. We would like to get some of the BikeEd curriculum into local DUI schools. We need to find contacts at the courthouse or possibly through MADD.

Bike to Work

There was some discussion of Bike to Work events and AA was mentioned specifically. Also, it was pointed out that many bicycle commuters are unable to attend BTW events because they're already at work!

Tulsa Transit

We discussed Tulsa Transit's Rack and Roll program that offers program participants a free bicycle for 24 hours at the Denver Avenue station. (pdf)

LAB News

LAB is looking for Ambassadors. This is from the American Bicyclist Update, 19AUG2008:

We are creating a new volunteer position to provide a stronger linkbetween our regional directors (who have to serve many states)and the cycling community in every state – clubs, advocacy groups,the industry, mountain bike and racing activities, and more. Stateambassadors will work with board members and staff to providecloser liaison between the regional director and League members,volunteers and affiliated organizations identify issues, challenges,and opportunities for the League to address in relation to itsmember services and programs; promote member participation inthe League; promote League membership, services and programs to people and organizations in their state; and assist theirregional director in recommending regional events and awardrecipients for the national office. Appointments will be madethis fall, following the Board of Directors meeting onSeptember 25. We welcome applications – please send a coverletter and resume – through September 15; please sendyour nomination to bikeleague@bikeleague.org and makereference to “state ambassador” in the subject line of youre-mail. Note: technically, we know this isn’t a new position.We used to have state representatives and state legislativerepresentatives a while back. We’ve chosen the term“ambassador” this time as we want people who arefacilitators and connectors, people who can help theLeague’s programs come to life, and who can processvaluable feedback on those programs for the board and staff.

BAG and Comprehensive Bicycling Master Plan meetingThe Bicycling Subcommittee (BAG) at INCOG has hada problem whenever there's a staff change at the agency. We've had to re-organize and start from zero each time.This is difficult for everyone involved. So in order toprovide some continuity within the bicycling advisorygroup, we are proposing the formation of a permanentbicycling advocacy group that will provide the samefunction as the subcommittee, yet be outside INCOG. By necessity, this must be a representative organization. There will be a planning meeting on 12SEP2008 to dothe preliminary work. As yet, the venue has not beenestablished. All interested parties are invited to attend.This message will go out to all current BAG membersas well as area clubs and organizations.